November 26th, 2009
One Comment
Last night on RTE 1, Buyer Beware raised some concerns regarding the sales of puppies in Irish pet stores.
The programme highlighted the case of Charlie, a Prince Charles puppy that was bought from a pet store in Dublin. Four days after receiving the puppy, Charlie’s owner realised all was not well with the dog as he was very weak and unable to stand.
Charlie’s owner immediately brought him to the local vet where he was diagnosed with severe Gastroenteritis. The Vet was very concerned about the animal’s health and only gave him a 50/50 chance of survival.
What had also worried the vet was that he had recently treated a number of puppies who were bought in the same pet store who had also been suffering from Gastroenteritis. One of which died after 72 hours of treatment.
Michael McCahill of All Care Veterinary Clinic believes that one of the big concerns about the sale of puppies from retail outlets is that it poses health risks for the animals. “If you take a sick animal into, even a clean area, the sickness will spread amongst the animals in the same unit”.
Another worrying concern was raised about where the puppies were sourced from, as most pet stores would purchase the puppies from breeders. Orla Aungier from the DSPCA believes that “no reputable breeder would be happy just handing over pups for sale to members of the public without some form of checks and balances being put in place”.
It was good to see that Charlie had made a full recovery. His owner said she would “never buy a pup out of a pet store” again and that you should “never buy a pup unless you can see the animals’ mother and father”.
See here for more advice about buying a puppy.
By Juan. Filed under Animal Welfare, Dogs, Pet Care, Random.
Oh my God! Thats so sad. Poor puppies. :[